Recipe: Kathleen's Best Banana Bread

I absolutely love banana bread so it was fun to try my friend Kathleen's recipe. The chocolate drizzle made for a yummy and sweet touch!

Best Banana Bread
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup mashed bananas
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
- - - -
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup chopped toasted pecans
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt

Chocolate drizzle:
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 Tbs butter

Beat together butter, sugar, eggs, sour cream, vanilla, and bananas. Stir in remaining ingredients, until dry ingredients are just moistened. Do not overmix.

Divide batter between 2 greased lightly floured 8x4" loaf pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 45-50 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool in pans for 15 minutes and then continue to cool on a rack. When cool, drizzle with chocolate glaze (combine chocolate chips and butter, melt and stir).

Book Club — Say hello to your friends.

Let's talk The Baby-Sitters Club. I was obsessed. I read every book in the series, and every book in the Little Sisters series, too. I even joined the Fan Club that was offered in the back of Scholastic book orders that my teachers gave us every month. 

A few months ago, a few books in The Baby-Sitters Club series got a makeover to reflect a more modern girl by changing references like "cassette players" to "headphones" and "perm" to "expensive hairstyle."

IF... The Baby-sitters Club ever has a reunion movie that matches up to their lives like the Where Are They Now? predictions, here's who I think should be cast:

Ellen Page as Kristy

Blake Lively as Stacey

Zooey Deschanel as Mary Anne

Tina Cohen-Chang as Claudia

Amanda Seyfried as Dawn

Emma Stone as Mallorie

Paula Patton as Jessi

Chace Crawford as Logan

Dakota Fanning as Little Sister Karen 

Baby-sitters Club fans, do you agree with my picks? Who would you cast?

Chic and Cheap Suede Wedges

I recently spotted these lovely wedges at J. Crew.

The next day, I found these at Target:  

That was an easy decision. 

Halloween Dreams

When is it socially acceptable to begin preparations for Halloween? Now? Okay, good. I don't have candy and a costume yet, but Tex got some Halloween flair last weekend at Dog Day Afternoon and I'm loving these cards from Rifle Paper Co.

The Landing Strip

Our entryway needs a little sprucing up. Specifically, we need some sort of table like the one in this inspiration picture to function as a "catch-all" for our stuff like mail, my school bag, keys, Tex's leash, etc. 

via Apartment Therapy 

Do you have any suggestions for a place that might have something like this? It's so simple that I thought it would be easy to find, but I haven't found anything yet. 

Book Club — Fall Reading List

I went on a book bender this weekend and bought/ordered the following books to read this fall:

Thanks Molly for suggesting The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society 

Oprah's latest Book Club pick, Freedom: A Novel 

An update to The Official Preppy Handbook from the 80's: True Prep: It's a Whole New World

Couldn't we all use a grammar refresher? The Glamour of Grammar 

The sequel to my summer guilty pleasure (Something Borrowed), Something Blue

What's on your fall reading list? 

Canvas shoes: TOMS vs. Keds

If you're wearing a pair canvas shoes, there's a good chance that they are TOMS shoes. You can buy them anywhere from Nordstrom to Whole Foods these days for about $45 a pair. For the past few years, I think that TOMS shoes has been highly successful because of their "giveback" factor: for every pair of TOMS shoes purchased, they will donate a pair of shoes to a child in need. This month, TOMS is on track to donate their one millionth pair of shoes.

I love TOMS but I must admit that I was really excited when I saw this display at The Gap today.

Keds! The canvas shoes I grew up wearing. I'm pretty sure that at one point I had every color they are currently selling, plus more. I couldn't find these women's shoes on the website but they are at the NorthPark Gap on sale for $23.99.

Do you have a pair of TOMS? Did you wear Keds as a kid?

Soup Du Jour: Kayla's Plaza III Steak Soup

I've never had a chance to dine at Plaza III in Kansas City, but I've always heard great things about it. I've also never made soup before (other than out of a can), so Kayla's recipe gave me a great reason to be adventurous with her Plaza III Steak Soup recipe. I'll definitely make this delicious soup again, especially on cold winter nights!

Plaza III Steak Soup
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
8 cups beef broth
2 lbs lean ground beef
1 cup onions
1 cup celery
1 cup carrots
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
28 oz canned diced tomatoes
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp Old Bay Seasoning


1. Melt butter in a soup pot.
2. Blend in flour to make a smooth paste.
3. Add beef broth a little at a time.
4. Saute beef in large skillet and drain off fat.
5. Add meat, all vegetables, and seasonings to soup pot.
6. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are cooked.
I cut the recipe in half and it was the perfect amount for dinner for two, with about one bowl left over. I don't really like carrots, so I skipped them because the mixed vegetables already had plenty for my taste. Also, I added a touch more Old Bay Seasoning than the recipe called for to give it an extra kick. Hopefully sometime soon I'll be able to compare it to the real deal at Plaza III! Yum-o.


What's your favorite soup?

Hannah's Corn Dip

This is the first post about the recipes I've made that were given to me from friends and family at my kitchen bridal shower.

Yummy Corn Dip
1 can corn
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 cup mayo
1 bag taco seasoned cheese
Ermeril's "BAM!" seasoning to taste (optional)

Mix it all together and you've got yourself an easy dip! Best served with Fritos, particularly Fritos Scoops. I used the low-fat versions of the ingredients.

What's your favorite dip recipe?

Do you ever select wines based on the labels?

I never had much interest in World Market stores until recently. Last weekend, for no particular reason, I popped in the store I hadn't been into in years, and I realized that I've really been missing out by not shopping there for wines.

I'm totally impressed with the store that is near me and their large, inexpensive wine collection. Tonight I went back in because our wine fridge (thanks Luke and Don) needed some restocking. 

Tonight, I was totally guilty in buying some wine based on their label design. It's the strategy Colby and I used in our early wine drinking days.

Eat, Pray, Love Pinot Grigio... $10

Pinot Evil Pinot Noir... $7

Gnarly Head Old Vine Zin... $9

Do you ever select wines based on their labels? 

Chipotle Cornbread

The past few nights we've been hosting dinner for friends for two important television events - the VMAs on Sunday and last night for Monday Night Football (go Chiefs!). Since we've been doing a lot of entertaining, I've obviously been doing a lot more baking than blogging. The Chipotle Cornbread was by far and away everyone's favorite. Interestingly, this was the first time I'd ever made cornbread!

Last summer my mother gave me the Junior League of Denver cookbook, Colorado Classique, and I found a number of delicious recipes in it. At the end of the cookbook, various restaurants from around Denver submitted recipes for some of their most popular items including Chipotle, which started in Denver in 1993. While I've never noticed cornbread on the Chipotle menu, this recipe was on the same page as the recipe for their guacamole, so maybe they used to serve it?

Chipotle Cornbread
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
1 cup buttermilk
3 eggs
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 tablespoons minced chipotle chiles (canned or dried)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in cheese. Whisk together buttermilk, eggs, melted butter, and chipotle chiles in a medium bowl. Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients and stir until blended. Pour batter into a buttered metal loaf pan. Bake bread 35 minutes. Cool in pan for about 15 minutes. Turn bread into rack to cool completely. Slice and serve.

Good stuff. In the words of Chris Rock, "Cornbread, ain't nothing wrong with that!"

Midwest is Best

My favorite subject to teach is social studies. In fifth grade, we focus on the geography and history of the United States. This has always been interesting to me ever since I was in first grade and learned the Fifty Nifty United States Song.

This week, my students have been learning about the different regions of the U.S. Although Texas is apart of the Southwest, one of my students asked me today if the Midwest was my favorite region since I grew up in Kansas. Maybe I should get this tote so she would know how I feel.

 Megan Lee Designs

Sock Monkey

The kitschy sock monkey got some serious love on my blog reader today. It's been around since the nineteenth century and seems to be making a comeback lately, with both kids and adults.

Wine Monkey 

Sock Monkey Birthday Party from Hostess with the Mostess

Did you ever have a sock monkey or any other monkey toy? 

H & M - Hurry up & Move to Dallas.

Alright H&M, please stop teasing us and just come to Dallas already. When I first moved here, I was surprised that there wasn't an H&M already since Dallas is quite the shopping mecca metroplex.

For the past few years, rumors have frequently popped up in the Dallas media that H&M will be opening up shop here. First, I heard it it was going to be downtown near Neiman-Marcus, then I heard the Galleria, and for the past few years there's been talk of it going in at NorthPark Center. 

The latest report seems a bit more certain that H&M will be making a Dallas debut soon. According a story the Dallas Observer ran last week, H&M is set to make an announcement soon about opening a store in Dallas. I've been let down before, but I'm holding onto hope that this is actually true. Plus, they've been showing commercials here, which they haven't done before. 

Another reason why I'm believing the rumor this time? For the past few years, there were also rumors about In-N-Out Burger opening in Dallas. A few months ago, it was officially announced that it will be a reality. The only question is when? And why in Garland?

Either way, inexpensive clothes shopping followed by a Double-Double and fries? Heaven. The sooner the better! 

Casino Carpet

Now I have something that I can blame the Gamblor that comes out in me whenever I'm at a casino.

It's the ugly carpets.

According to Dave Schwartz, Director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, “Casino carpet is known as an exercise in deliberate bad taste that somehow encourages people to gamble.” View photographs from Chris Maluszynski’s Las Vegas Carpets series and read more about the psychology of bad carpet at Wired.

Skating rinks and bowling allies also have awesomely bad carpet. What's the worst carpet you've ever seen? 

Recipes: Friend and Family Favorites

Recipe Card Box from Rifle Paper Co. 

For a kitchen bridal shower, the hosts had the guests give me a copy of their favorite recipes. It was such a cute idea and all the recipes look delicious. I'm going to try and make each of the them before the year is over. Here's what I'll be making:

Breakfast

Best Banana Bread

Lemon Currant Scones

Sausage Soufle
Cheesy Potato Casserole

Appetizers

Mexican Dip

Corn Dip

Stuffed Peppers

Dinner

Mexican Lasagna

Plaza III Steak Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Enchilada Casserole 

Dessert

Vanilla Cake 

Gooey Butter Cake
Chocolate Cool Whip Pie

I'll do a follow up post on how these all turn out! YUM.